VIDBE-Q Volume 64 Issue 4
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Babies Count was first piloted in 1996 with the first data analysis
completed in 1999 by Dr. Deborah Hatton and published in 2001 (Hatton,
2001). The project was managed by the American Printing House for the
Blind (APH) from 2000 to 2011, under the direction of Project Leader Burt
Boyer. When the federal government informed APH that it could no longer
use federal funds to support Babies Count in 2011, the survey languished.
Piles of paper surveys lay untouched in file cabinets at APH until a group of
motivated early childhood VI specialists, comprised of members of the
Early Childhood Visual Impairment Alliance (ECVIA) and led by Linda Lyle
from the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (NMSBVI),
revitalized the Babies Count project. Starting in 2013, they updated the
survey and by 2016 they created an online version of the original with data
collection happening through a secure website.
The website, Babiescount.org, is a comprehensive portal that shares
information about the history, mission, and vision for the Babies Count
project. It includes an inspirational video about the project and a connection
to the online survey that serves as the foundation for the database. The site
offers the user an opportunity to download the survey as a Word document,
but also the ability to complete it electronically with families directly. The
survey collects information on individual children ages 0-36 months initially
